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“I tried to strangle them, then I went for their eyes.”

“Good. We will find them. You have done well, Au'revele,” he said, his voice growly.

“I don’t know if he’s hurt,” she said, her voice fading into tears.

“We’ll call the doctors, but I think he’s okay,” Vivian said. He’s already quieted down. If he were hurt, he’d still be crying.”

“I tried. I tried to keep him safe. I kept screaming and screaming and fighting. It felt like forever but I wasn’t going to stop.”

“From the first scream we heard, the whole thing was less than a minute, a minute and a half,” Vivian told her. “But you did it. You kept him safe, Au'revele. Thank you.”

Quin was pacing back and forth in front of where they sat on the foot of the bed, his hand pressed to his implanted communicator as he rattled off information. “Bleeding. Most likely the eyes, and possibly the neck. Dark clothing. I want them dead! No exceptions! I don’t care who they are! And seal her quarters! No one gets in or out. Weld the damned door closed if you must. I don’t care if it never opens again!”

Au'revele watched Quin quietly as she tried to get herself under control, then she shared a look with Vivian.

Vivian smiled at her. “It’s because of you that I’m sitting here holding him. You saved him.”

Au'revele smiled shakily and reached out a hand to smooth over his shiny, black hair. “He’s okay.”

“He’s okay,” Vivian echoed.

~~~

Zahn had just gotten off duty and was stripping on his way to his cleansing unit when screams filled his ears. Without hesitation he ran as quickly as he could through his quarters, leaving his door wide open as he started across the corridor to Au'revele’s rooms. Li'Don and several of Quin’s security force were already going in with their weapons drawn, and he was right behind them despite being half naked, not wearing shoes and holding no weapon. Snarling and growling with every hurried step he took, he hesitated for only a second when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The flash of dark clothing was just barely visible as its wearer quickly rounded the corner at the end of the corridor. Knowing from the screams he heard that Au'revele was alive, and that Li'Don and the forces ahead of him could handle whatever they found, he made a split second decision to go after whoever was quickly racing away from the area, and rushed off in pursuit of the person wearing the dark clothing.

His Psi engaged, he ran as quickly as he could and just caught a glimpse as the person rushed through the kitchen and out into a receiving area stacked high with dozens of crates waiting to be inventoried and put away by the morning shift. Despite the fact that he’d lost track of the person he was following, he engaged his senses and allowed his instincts to lead him on. On the far side of the receiving room, a brief whiff of fresh air focused him on a small side door. As he approached, he yanked it open, realizing his target had opened the door and slipped right out of it into the crisp nighttime air as he tried to determine exactly where that person had gone.

With his Psi engaged, his nighttime vision was as good as his daytime vision, and it only took a second or two to determine the shadows he saw in the distance were the dark clothed individual he was chasing and several other figures, much larger than the first, who were obviously aiding the first in their getaway. Zahn roared, bellowing his intent to attack as he ran faster, his arms pumping at his sides, his claws extended, his teeth elongated and sharpened and his horns and brow bones more prominent and defensive of his head as he willingly pursued battle.

Running as quickly as he could, he watched as one of those spiriting away the first target picked that smaller person up and began to run away with them, while four or five others turned to face him, welcoming him almost, as they raised their weapons to greet him.

In battle, Zahn was never one to disappoint and his angry moue shifted into one of near pleasure as he launched himself into the air, coming down with his fists pounding and his feet kicking perfectly timed impacts at anyone within reach.

Those he’d just attacked roared their own cries of battle as they counter-attacked, but Zahn didn’t hear them. He was so intent on taking out the enemy who attacked his female, he was aware of nothing but the feel of flesh giving way under his punches. The sound of bones cracking as his hands and feet made impact. The burn as one of his opponent’s daggers sliced through the taut skin of his belly.

Zahn didn’t even stop to glance down at the warm liquid that began spilling down his abdomen. Instead it enraged him even more and caused him to let go of any bit of civility he’d tried to hold onto while fighting. He released a roar that called the attention of any who might have been even barely close enough to hear, and set about introducing those he faced to death. Pure and simple, they’d attacked his female, and very possibly her charge — the youngling of his Sire and Sirena — and for that alone, they needed to die. Not be tried for their actions, he’d already decided death was their sentence. All that remained was the execution, and he would be their executioner this night.

A male grabbed Zahn from behind while another advanced from the front. Zahn used the hold of the one behind him to balance himself as he raised his feet up off the ground and kicked the approaching male so hard, it drove his nose up into his brain, dropping him where he stood. Slamming his feet back to the ground he reached over his own head and grabbed the male still holding him from behind. Throwing his own body forward, he dropped to his knees, bringing the male behind himself over his head to land on the ground before him. He lifted his foot and slammed his heel down on the male’s throat, roaring triumphantly as he both heard and watched the immediate gurgles of his opponent as he tried to breathe around his crushed trachea.

Another tossed his dagger back and forth, hand to hand as he slowly, calculatedly approached Zahn.

Zahn watched him disdainfully, his face showing a clear lack of foreboding of the opponent’s approach as he simply reached out and snatched the dagger out of mid-air, thoroughly sending his opponent off balance as his dagger was taken away from him with little-to-no effort on Zahn’s part. Zahn tossed the dagger into the air over his own head, then as he caught it, he turned and threw it with all his strength at the male who was running full speed at him from behind with his sword drawn, intent on removing Zahn’s head from his shoulders. The dagger pierced the male’s throat, leaving him unable to make a sound ashis eyes rolled back in his head and he went down, clutching at his neck.

Zahn, weak from the blood spilling steadily down his body, swayed a little as he turned back to the one male still standing, only to find that the one male had turned into two as another of his cohorts rushed to stand beside him.

“You will die,” the new male threatened.

Zahn shrugged. “So be it. We’ll meet our maker together. My reward for fighting honorably will be to battle you endlessly for eternity.”

The newest male rushed Zahn, fists raised, attacking like his life depended on it.

Zahn fought back valiantly, actually knocking the male to the ground at his side.

The next male, angry that Zahn had taken his dagger, saw his chance to attack as Zahn laughed at his friend struggling to rise from the ground. He lunged for Zahn, using his shoulder to slam into Zahn’s already injured side, then drew back to slam the back of his hand into Zahn’s throat.

Zahn bellowed in pain, twisting his body away from impact and falling to his knees as he held his side, struggling to catch his breath as he fought off the darkness threatening to take him under. Zahn ground his teeth, and leaned his upper body weight on one hand as the other held his side. He lifted his hand from his side and looked at it curiously, stained red and sticky from his own blood. “That’s not good,” he grumbled.

“Zahn! Zaahn!”

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