Page 89 of Fated to the Dragon Warlord

“Better now, you fool.”

I shove the gun in the waistband at my rear and hold out a hand. Rosalie grabs it and I heave her through the hole. Together we pull out the rest of the women who stare around, wide-eyed.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Lydia says, her voice hardly audible over the battle going on.

“You expected a beach resort or something?” Maggie says.

“I saw something different when we were being brought here, that’s all,” Lydia responds. “More metal, less…” She pokes the papery side of the ruined egg.

Rosalie flings her arms around me. “We thought you’d been eaten,” she says.

“Did you?”

“Not really, but when you didn’t come back, I was so worried.” Rosalie hugs me tightly.

“So, there are a couple of things to note on our magical mystery tour of cockroach central.” I let rip with a couple of bolts to hit a Veseli which is coming in our direction. “One, I have a laser gun now.”

“We noticed,” Maggie says. “It’s cool.”

I nod, cooly.

“Two, the Sarkarnii are here to kill all the Veseli and find Deus, one of their own and Darax’s brother. As well as us.”

“Fair enough.” Scarlett shrugs.

“And three, there’s an evil professor out to get us.”

“Awhat what?” Rosalie gives me a concerned look. “Did you hit your head?”

“No, that’s where the Veseli took me. I think he’s controlling them.”

“Another human?”

I shake my head. “He was human-like, but I don’t think he was human. I don’t know what he was. All I know is he had an unhealthy interest in human-sarkarnii relations, and he has somehow been able to raise the Veseli from the dead.”

“Explains why they smell so bad.” Scarlett waves her hand in front of her face.

“And all of this means what?” Rosalie studies my face.

“It means…” I spot another Veseli heading our way, and something else too.

Something I hoped never to see again. The humanoid head and high shoulders of the evil professor.

“We need to run. We need to run,now.”

KERRA

Irelease a bolt in the general direction of our pursuers but concentrate on getting everyone back to where the Sarkarnii decimated the previous Veseli army.

“Darax,” I shout his name. “I have my friends.”

Almost instantly, the air is filled with huge dragons. Scarlett stops to gape, but I grab her shoulder and run on, dragging her with me.

It seems like it’s taking an age to get to the exit. But we make it, and I shove everyone through.

Inside, they stop, surveying the damage.

“Go!” I exhort. “To the other side. The Sarkarnii have their ships there.” I glance over my shoulder.

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